EquineTest is a plastic horseshoe

Occasionally we meet with a potential client who is seriously considering our EquineTest. He or she carefully evaluates what it will bring to them and whether it makes sense. It's an investment after all. And sometimes the whole reasoning ends with the statement: "Well, you know, my grandfather didn't need an EquineTest and what great horses he used to have!"

Surely you too have sometimes gotten into a debate on horseshoes. This is a never ending debate. Why is your horse also shoed on the back legs? You have a barefoot mare? Poor girl! I see that your horse has plastic horseshoes, how do you like that? Everyone has their own view and we are lucky horses cannot talk. Sometimes the debates are pretty heated. I'm quite sure that every one of you readers is clear or close to clear about this as well. But whether you prefer classic metal or more modern plastic horseshoes, or whether your blacksmith's mare walks barefoot same like shoemaker's children, one thing is quite clear - your grandfather's horses did not have plastic horseshoes, because they did not exist. It's called progress.

We drive cars where grandfathers drove wagons, we read the news on the internet, our grandfathers subscribed to newspapers. We buy bread in the store, while my grandmother baked it every week. Well, this isn't much progress. Anyway, in any case, your grandfather, for obvious reasons, could not have genetic testing done on himself, let alone his horses. The question is whether he wouldn't want to.

So the next time you debate with a supporter of metal horseshoes and he explains to you that this is how horses have always been shoed, remember the EquineTest whole genome screening. It hasn't been here forever either. But what would grandfather have given for that if he knew that the black mare would have both foals...

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EquineTest horse genetic sequencing report with markers table

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DNA Diagnostics

Polygenic Score in Horses: When a Single Mutation is not Enough

Many people associate the term genetics with a simple and direct cause-and-effect relationship: one gene, one mutation, one trait. However, the genetic outcomes for many traits, such as performance, behavior, athleticism, disease susceptibility, and temperament, cannot be simplified in this way, as these traits are not defined by a single mutation but by hundreds to thousands of minor factors, each with its own tiny effect on the outcome. Individually, many of these variants have only a small effect, but when we look at them as a whole, they become more meaningful.

Horses Coat Colour

White Markings and their Genetic Background

Across the animal kingdom, white markings are thought to be associated with domestication. They are typical for domesticated animals such as dogs, cats, pigs, cows, and horses, in contrast to their wild counterparts. White markings are caused by the absence of melanocytes (pigment-producing cells) in certain body areas, resulting in white hair.

Horses Performance

Genetics of Ambling

The three basic horse gaits are walk, trot, and canter. Gallop, sometimes considered to be the fourth basic gait, is practically a variant of canter. The main difference between these two gaits is that a canter is a three-beat gait, while a gallop is a faster four-beat gait that covers more ground.

Horses Health Performance

Horses and Heat Stress

If you’ve ever been around horses during the summer when the temperatures are high, you might have noticed a few things, such as changes in behaviour, seeking shade, drinking more water, sweating, more visible veins under the skin, or a higher respiratory rate. All of these changes are the horses’ way of adapting to the heat.